Telford and Wrekin Council cabinet consider green space plan

Dale End Park in Ironbridge could be one of the green spaces included

More than 100 pieces of council-owned land in Shropshire could be given greater protection from development.

On Thursday, Telford and Wrekin Council's cabinet will consider designating 116 areas as open spaces under what it calls a "Green Guarantee".

If cabinet approves the plans, the council will seek public views on its "initial list" of green spaces.

The authority wants to build 15,500 new homes in the borough by 2031.

In 2010, it proposed that 26,500 new homes would be built, but this number was reduced in the council's Local Plan.

The council hopes to identify 50 more parcels of land to become designated green spaces during the first six months of 2017 through public consultation

Telford and Wrekin Council's deputy leader, Labour councillor Richard Overton, said the plans aimed to give residents peace of mind about open spaces they valued.

"There might be just an area where a scout group go and do their yearly fun day or a dog walking space that people use a lot which is valued by the community and because of some of this rhetoric by government about building, and they do see some spaces being built on, people are always worried that that space down the road might be one of these to go," he said.